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You can run but you can't hide.
Remember the original Terminator movie? Back when Arnold Schwarzenegger had to scour phone books for Sarah Connor's address? Well, it seems that if 6-foot mechanical bodybuilders from the future started appearing in our time to ensure Skynet's victory, they'd have it much simpler, as they'd come equipped with your exact location, or at least that of your smartphone.
Recently, Developer and AI enthusiast Jerrod Lew shared a couple of worrisome interactions with Meta AI, the company's ChatGPT-style virtual assistant powered by Meta Llama 3, where the chatbot nonchalantly revealed that it was most likely aware of Lew's whereabouts and then attempted to clumsily gaslight him with deceitful responses.
As evidenced in the screenshot shared by Lew on Twitter, he asked Meta AI where the nearest McDonald's was, to which the chatbot gave a location that, according to the author, happened to be right next to him at the time.
When Lew questioned how the AI obtained this information, the chatbot promptly started to lie, claiming that it couldn't know anyone's real-time location, calling the provided address that would earn it 5000 points on GeoGuessr a "coincidence" and a "lucky guess", and trying to convince Lew that it had no access to the user's private information, despite indications to the contrary.
Lew then repeated the experiment, asking Meta AI where the nearest Dunkin' was, and the results were pretty much the same:
After sharing the original screenshot, the author pointed out that he doesn't mind Meta AI tracking him, but what he does find puzzling is why the chatbot chose to gaslight him into thinking it was merely a coincidence rather than giving an honest response.
"It's so funny because if Meta AI just used the location data it clearly has access to, it would be so much more useful," commented Lew. "I think it definitely got the location from Bing. It's not a problem that they know the information, I am happy for them to have it. I just wish they were able to be transparent about it and give consistent results."
So, what's your take on this situation? Are you troubled by the fact that AI can effortlessly track your location? What will you do when a cybernetic assassin comes knocking on your door? Share your thoughts in the comments!
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